Of Strange Shops In Familiar Places
by prettypriestess
Summary: Joshua visits the shop, which Watanuki, Doumeki, and Himawari now run. Some things are worth working up a sweat for.


I was totally planning to do a 5-things crossover with xxxHOLiC. Y'know, 5 fandoms and a title like 5 people Watanuki never met, or the trio's first 5 cases or something, then I got side-tracked, and we should all be glad that I only ended up writing this. (I've always been a crossover geek, since day one of my fandom experiences.)

Warnings: Well, technically it's not spoilers for 'holic, it's speculation. I mean, this isn't even quite what everyone else speculated. Vague spoilers for the spider arc in volume 7 or 8. Ending spoilers for TWEWY. Hardcore. Hints of slash.  
Pairings: Doumeki/Watanuki/Himawari? and one-sided Joshua/Neku.  
Notes: For anyone who doesn't know about xxxHOLiC: It's about a shop that grants wishes. The price is based on the value to the individual, as opposed to monetary value. The shop appears for those who need it. For anyone who doesn't know The World Ends With You: It's about a Game. You die, you play for a week, and if you win, you're alive again.

---

Joshua felt the moment the building entered his Shibuya. Its music was fuzzy; had the quality of a bad recording, which was utterly ridiculous. Nothing had ever recorded any of the music he heard on his daily rounds. He made his way to the back streets of Udagawa, from which the song seemed to originate. In the space where there should have been an alley, was a fenced-in traditional Japanese house. A tall boy sat on the front porch and read a book with calligraphy older than Joshua.

Hesitantly, Joshua allowed his curiosity to overpower his caution. He stepped through, and felt the difference immediately.

Once, when Joshua had just become the Composer, he stepped outside of Shibuya. His powers were back to that of a Player's, and he had suddenly felt helpless, despite the fact he had been quite powerful as a Player, as well. He felt like that once more as he heard the music of the place sound through him.

The tune was a varying one, alluring and almost familiar. The music spoke to him without lyrics, calling him forward into its embrace, and warning him away at the same time. The music of the place knew that the place was dangerous better than it could admit through its pride. The place loved people, and that was part of its problem.

Joshua blinked as he stepped through the threshold and understood this instantly. The boy on the porch stood, leaving his book, and beckoned Joshua inside, seeming to not quite be able to tell exactly where Joshua was; his gaze darted around Joshua's general direction, as if searching for something. Joshua followed, despite the warning song of the place. The boy, at least, had the most delightfully pure song Joshua had ever heard. It was almost archaic in its simplicity.

"Welcome to the shop," the boy said politely. He appeared older than Joshua, but Joshua understood that appearances meant nothing better than the average person. "Oi, we've got a customer!" he said in a voice that insisted that it didn't need to be raised to be heard.

A furious voice rang out from a back room in reply. "My name is not 'oi!'" was the first thing that Joshua heard, then, as he rounded the second doorway on his left after the first tall boy, "Welcome to the shop, pardon the mess, I was just cleaning up. My name is Watanuki, and this is my assistant Doumeki, emphasis on the 'ass.' You must have a wish, right?" The owner of the second voice began taking off his apron and handkerchief, re-adjusting his glasses as he set them neatly on a nearby chair. The apron and handkerchief seemed to fold themselves as they left his hands.

"Would you like something to drink?" Watanuki offered. "I just baked some cakes; too many for us too eat, you could have some if you're hungry."

Joshua shrugged. "I do feel a bit peckish," he said, flipping a piece of hair behind his ear. This boy had a fairly normal song, not unlike Neku's, but with odd trills here and there, as if to remind Joshua that he was not exactly normal. So far, the place itself had strange music, but neither of the inhabitants shared anything like it.

"Doumeki, get the cakes out of the kitchen, please," Watanuki asked, waving his "assistant" toward the hallway. "Please, have a seat," he told Joshua. "So, what is it you wish for?"

Joshua raised a delicate eyebrow. "What makes you think I have a wish? Or any interest in purchasing whatever it is you are selling?"

Watanuki leaned back in his chair, his music seeming to slow and eddy like smoke or water. It took on a new tone; an accompanying melody to that of the place around him, before returning to his normal melody. "Because you can't get in unless you desire something. It's the boy, right?" Watanuki seemed to look into the air for a moment, as if trying to recall a long-forgotten memory. "Neku?" he tried to clarify.

Doumeki returned with a full snack tray and three glasses next to a bottle of expensive sake. "He's a Composer. The one for Shibuya, our time. I can't see which world," Doumeki said as he took a seat next to Watanuki.

Watanuki adjusted his glasses again, then took them off, putting a hand over one eye. Joshua noticed that he had one blue eye, one hazel. "Huh. I wondered why he looked so powerful. Can you see him?"

"Only through the one eye," Doumeki admitted.

"I apologize for talking as if you were not here," Watanuki said to Joshua rather hastily, "but we rarely get a visitor like yourself."

Joshua's eyes were narrowed at them both, had been since Watnuki had said Neku's name. "How, exactly, does one run a shop that grants wishes?"

Watanuki shrugged. "I'm not really sure, either, but it works. We don't do resurrections, nor do we kill people. The price would be too steep."

"That's fine," Joshua agreed.

Doumeki smiled. "Those would be your job."

Joshua smirked. "Life and death are, indeed, what I deal in."

Watanuki seemed to hesitate, wanting to ask his own question. The room was thick with his desire for a wish.

"I can't help unless the person dies in my Shibuya," Joshua said.

Watanuki's shoulders seemed to droop. "Of course not," he agreed.

Joshua reached for his second snack cake, enjoying the friendly flavor that seemed to pervade the treats. "So, what would the price be for my wish?" he asked at last.

Doumeki reached for his third cake. Watanuki hadn't eaten any of them. "Well, price gauging is more of Himawari's job, but I would say it would cost your position. You would be mortal again."

"And memories," Doumeki added.

"Just post-mortem," Watanuki assured Joshua.

"No, that won't be enough. Everyone else loses their memories of the Game, and you would lose all of yours," Doumeki corrected.

"I'm sorry, who is 'everyone?'" Joshua asked, setting down his half-eaten snack cake.

"Neku, Shiki, Beat, Rhyme. Your friends," Watanuki clarified.

"You won't touch them," Joshua snapped.

"Technically, you shouldn't have let them keep those memories. If we went by the book we would have already cleaned them when we arrived in this time and place," Doumeki pointed out reasonably.

Watanuki waved his hands in a placating gesture. "But we work by _not_ going by the book, and we don't take without giving back."

"Anyway, it's your choice. Sakuraba for some memories and your job."

Joshua stood, throwing some yen down on the table. "Thanks for the snack cakes," he said.

On his way out, Joshua almost ran over a pretty girl with long, curly black hair that seemed to go on forever. She had a small yellow bird on her shoulder and music that seemed to screech and wail in loud, warning tones.

"Oh, you must be a new customer. It might seem a bit forward, but some wishes are worth working up a sweat for. If you haven't already paid, I mean." The girl glanced inside the shop nervously.

"I'll keep that in mind," Joshua replied, finding himself surprisingly sincere.

The shop was gone as soon as he exited. Mr. H had never heard of it, but he had felt the moment it came and the moment it left. Joshua was not overly surprised.

---

An explanation for those not overly familiar with xxxHOLiC: Doumeki not being able to see Joshua except through his and Watanuki's shared eye implies that Joshua is dead, or at least vaguely otherworldly.


End file.
